At a previous Meeting the Transition 1 Noxious list was put through. It will mean that the following fish will be placed on the noxious list most likely in June. I have highlighted those species that may affect hobbyists.

There are a number of Fish that are in the country at the moment that are not currently on the Noxious or Allowable lists. There are some 470 fish of approximately some 1100 odd species in the country from the current grey list that are yet to be assigned to a colour purple, yellow or blue status. For Industry/Hobby to look at, at a later date. These fish have now been placed on a number of lists for consideration. These are the “Grey List” of fish that have been assessed as posing a Risk and to be placed on the noxious list with consideration to Hobbyist and industry groups. The “ Purple List” which are those species that they are looking to “ fast track” to the Noxious list as they are considered high risk but considered of little interest to Hobbyist or industry. These fish have had a basic Risk assessment done on them. Any Species that the group objects to will be taken off those lists and placed back on the “ Yellow” and “ Blue” lists which are fish which need to have a more detailed risk assessment preformed as they are of interest to either Industry or Hobbyist groups.There are some 470 fish of approximately some 1100 odd species in the country from the current grey list that are yet to be assigned to a colour purple, yellow or blue status. For Industry/Hobby to look at, at a later date.

This Meeting was to run through the “Purple list”, the purple list is a number of species that are looking to go to the noxious list and are considered to be of little interest to the hobbyist or industry areas. These will be “Fast tracked” using a basic Risk Matrix to the noxious list unless objected to by members of the working group. Whereby they will return to the “Blue” or “Yellow” lists to be further assessed at a later date. The Purple, Yellow and Blue lists are subsets of the Grey List of species within Australia, and the total grey list is of species not currently on any noxious list or on an allowable import list. A couple of species have been raised as possible concern to either Industry or hobbyists. These are The Clown Knife fish species and the Redfin Perch. These will be now taken off the Purple list and placed on the “Yellow or Blue” list for further assessment. It is also worth noting that Koi have also been given special consideration separate from domestic Carp. They have also been returned to the Yellow and Blue list for assessment at a later date.

It is the intention of the Government to have all fish species on either the Noxious or allowable lists. This is of major concern to hobbyists and industry as there are a number of species that are being kept that we don’t need to be added to the import list but do not want to see added to the Noxious list. At present we cannot get ten species allowed annually from the current import protocols, so the fear is that getting the expected hundreds of species we would like to see allowable would never be added to the allowable import list.It is also our concern that if commonly kept fish are declared noxious that the average law abiding citizen will at the stroke of a pen be classed a criminal for having these fish.

The subject of the Pearl Cichlid Geophagus braziliensis had now gone feral in Western Australia and is now reportedly present in the Swan River. They have also been found in a stream in Tweed Heads in NSW, and they are also reported to be feral in a river system in Queensland, and are reported to be becoming more cold-temperate in some locations, and will probably be placed onto the Noxious list due to these three outbreaks, which are unable to be controlled at present by Fisheries. More details as they come to hand.